


Where Does My Heart Beat Now

by SympathyHeart



Category: Original Work
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-09 10:22:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5536295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SympathyHeart/pseuds/SympathyHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A journey through the Texas town of Jefferson. Gabriel, a half-Irish stud, finally meets the woman who will change everything in his life. As Civil War reenactors they endure many challenges, including people out to kill them. An exciting twist of romance, history, and moments of peril. The later chapters are written in collaboration with Gangsta Smurfette.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue/Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ignore grammar errors. Please read and review!

# Where Does My Heart Beat Now

## Prologue

Fat drops of rain began to fall from a somber sky on that sad July afternoon, spattering the souls assembled in a place full of sorrow and grief. The umbrellas went up all around, save for one.

Gabriel watched listlessly as the beads of water rolled down the sides of the polished mahogany, and over the brass handles before disappearing into the void below. His body felt numb to the world around him. Not even the cold rain, soaking through the uncomfortable suit he wore, made him move from where he stood. When offered an umbrella –useless as it was by then– he ignored it. His heart was broken. Aqua-colored eyes stayed fixed on the casket in front of him, his mind unable to process the reality of what he faced; Susan, his sweet wife, locked away forever in that dark place along with his stillborn daughter. To have it end that way was simply devastating.

_She must be so scared in there_. I need to comfort her, he thought, his mind unable to accept the fact that his wife wasn’t alive. His muscles tightened up and a lump caught in his throat at the sight of the casket being lowered. That was it. He would never see her again. On impulse Gabriel started toward the grave, reaching out toward it as if to stop them. “No!”

A hand caught his arm in an effort to stop him from doing something crazy, such as jumping into the grave after the casket, which he had every intention of doing. The hand belonged to his best friend, Sean. Gabriel read the man’s expression: ‘don’t do it’, his eyes seemed to say. Sean had been there from the very beginning when Gabriel had first met Susan. Granted, it hadn’t been the best of situations for either of them, but he could tell Gabriel had feelings for the woman. 

Gabriel’s eyes glanced around at the sad faces looking back at him from underneath the umbrellas; there were his parents, Rob and Mae standing beside the old tree closest to the grave; his aunt and uncle, Riley and Moira; their two sons, Eoghan and Casey; Sean and his high school sweetheart, Ava; and a majority of the re-enactors from his cavalry unit. All of them had shown up to support him during such a tragic time in his life.

No longer willing to throw himself in after Susan and the baby, Gabriel stood between Sean and Mae, watching the top of the casket disappear into the grave. He felt his cousin, Eoghan, place his hands on Gabriel’s shoulders, almost as a reminder to stay where he was. The lump reappeared in Gabriel’s throat as the grave diggers began filling in the grave.  
The groups stayed where they were until the last bundle of flowers covered the mound of fresh dirt left afterwards. Slowly, each of them filed out of Oakwood Cemetery. There would be time for condolences once everyone arrived at the farm. 

Gabriel was the last one to leave the cemetery. Not once did he look back at the grave. It would just make the grief that much harder. With his back turned to the cemetery gate, he vowed to never step foot inside of the cemetery again.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Life at the farm had pretty much returned to normal for everyone, except for Gabriel. He stayed in his room most of the time, only leaving to eat and to use the bathroom. He had sunk into a deep depression ever since the day of the funeral. It worried Mae to see her son in such a state. Every time she entered his room to check on him he was either in bed or sitting in the chair beside the window, staring absently at the Celtic knot necklace and wedding ring they had removed from Susan’s body before the mortician took her away.

His hell began on a beautiful sunny morning. Susan had roused him from his sleep, explaining she was in labor. Sure, he was a little worried, but what new father wasn’t when it pertained to the birth of their first child. She had progressed through the morning hours with fairly any issues. When it had come time to push later that afternoon the trouble began. The doctor, whom they had called to the house shortly before, was unable to control the bleeding and couldn’t understand why Susan continued to lose blood. 

A single tear rolled down Gabriel’s cheek at the memory of the doctor stepping out of the bedroom to inform him the baby had arrived stillborn; it was one of many tears he had shed that week. As if learning of his child’s death was bad enough, seeing his mother, Mae leave the room shortly after in a state of distress and having her explain through sobs that Susan had passed away as well struck him a powerful blow. How could it be possible when she had been so full of life that morning? She couldn’t be dead.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn’t take long for him to survive the denial stage of the grieving process, and he skipped right over the bargaining stage, but his grieving process wasn’t considered the norm: the anger and depression stage were reversed. After months of dealing with a depression that had consumed him, anger finally showed its ugly face.

It didn’t take much to set Gabriel off. If he couldn’t find something in his room, he’d start throwing objects out of frustration. If a bird outside chirped too loudly, he’d open the window and yell at it. At one point he put a dent in one of the bedroom walls after he had gotten drunk and thrown a whisky bottle. Mae wasn’t too happy about that, but she didn’t have the heart to scold Gabriel for his behavior.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a chilly evening in October Sean showed up at the farm to ask Gabriel if he wanted to go out to catch a movie as a way to get Susan off his mind. When he entered the house he found Mae vacuuming the rug in front of the couch. As soon as she noticed the man she shut it off and gave him a warm smile.

“What are you up to, Sean?” Mae asked.

Sean started for the hallway, “Came by to see if Gabe wanted to go see a movie with me.”

“Good luck. The last time I saw him he was in his cave watching _Ghost_.”

Sean’s eyebrow’s furrowed. _Seriously?_ “I’ll go see.”

Without knocking on the bedroom door, he opened it to find the room empty. That was unusual knowing Gabriel had become a recluse.

“He wasn’t in there.” Sean announced upon returning to the living room.

Right then Rob walked in from the front yard. Mae stopped him on his way to the kitchen. “Honey, have you seen your son lately?”

Her husband shook his head, “Nope. Isn’t he in his room?”

“No.” Sean responded.

Rob started for Gabriel’s bedroom. “I’ll go see if he left a note saying he went somewhere even though his truck is outside.” He disappeared into the bedroom, and when he walked back a disturbed expression had replaced the previous one, “His Colt’s missing.”

Mae’s face turned pale at the mention of the revolver Gabriel usually kept in the top drawer of his night stand.

All three of them dashed out of the house to start searching for Gabriel. Sean took the lead, heading for the barn. Instinct told him that was where his friend would go, because that was where he felt most relaxed. At the barn Sean made Mae stay outside in case they had arrived too late, and he didn’t want her to see what was left of her son.  
He found Gabriel at the opposite end of the barn in the stall Susan’s horse occupied before he made Casey take her to live at his ranch. Thankfully he had arrived in time to stop him. Gabriel had his back to him. His eyes moved from Gabriel to the gun in his right hand, thumb on the hammer. Slowly, his thumb drew back on it, followed by the sound of several clicks.

So as not to startle him, thus causing the trigger to be pulled, Sean spoke softly, “Gabe… don’t do it.”

“You can’t save me, Sean. There’s nothing left for me.” Gabriel’s voice shook.

“Give me the gun.” He picked up a horse brush lying on the ground near his feet. The way things were going he would have to take drastic measures. His pulse increased when 

Gabriel inched the barrel up to his temple. _Cowardice. He’s a damn coward for not looking at me._ A sickening feeling overwhelmed Sean when his friend’s finger found the trigger. Not putting much thought into his actions, he hurled the brush at the weapon, knocking it out of Gabriel’s hand. Sean rushed over to him, pinning him to the dirt floor. “Get a hold of yourself, Gabriel! Your life isn’t over just because Susan died.”

“I don’t have a reason to live now. Susan was my everything.” Gabriel struggled to free himself from Sean’s weight.

Sean did the only thing he could think of to make Gabriel come to his senses. He punched him in the jaw. “If you kill yourself, everyone you love will hurt. You need to man up!”  
Seeing the tears roll down his cheeks, Sean softened his tone after unloading the Colt and slipping it into the waistband of his jeans. _He’ll get this back later_ , “We’ll get through this together. Now, come on…”

## Chapter 1

##    


###  _Six years later_

In the small town of Jefferson, Texas, Gabriel Dawson was hard at work training his bay stallion, Bo. He was a southern Civil War re-enactor for the 1st Texas Cavalry. Along with his friend, the boys were the best riders in their unit, extremely talented with the sword and pistol. 

“Hey, Gabe!”

The male with the vine green-colored hair pulled his horse to a stop and waved when he saw his friend leaning against the fence, a smirk shining, “What is so amusing to you, Sean? Do I have my pistol holster on wrong, or something?” Gabriel hopped down from his mount after trotting over and coming to a stop right in front of his friend and climbed over the railing.

“Did you forget that we were leaving for our hiking trip in Washington, today?” Sean raised his eyebrow while waiting for Gabriel’s response.

Almost instantly, Gabriel’s eyes widened in shock; he had completely forgotten about the trip with their other friends, “Oh, crap! Come on, Sean! Help me pack!” He took off running for the house; Sean left standing by the fence.

“You didn’t pack?!” Sean stared incredulously at his friend’s back before running after him.

Inside the house, the boys flew past Gabriel’s mother, who was dusting off some pictures with the family’s Golden Retriever bouncing up on her legs. She turned around when she saw the boys run by into Gabriel’s room, and then shook her head in wonder.

“I can’t believe you didn’t pack. I asked you last night if you had finished packing, and you said you had,” Sean tossed some t-shirts on the bed while Gabriel stuffed them into his suitcase without taking the care to fold them, then opened a dresser drawer, “Uh, dude… what’s up with these?” He held up a pair of white boxers with small, green shamrocks all over them.

Gabriel quickly snatched them out of his hand and shoved them into the suitcase along with some jeans and socks, “Gimme those!”

“Okay, I know you’re half Irish, and really into that stuff, but seriously. Instead of chick magnets, those are more like chick repellants.”

“My mama got those for me on my birthday last year. Besides, anything Irish makes me look sexy,” He grabbed the suitcase as he headed for the door.

“Have you worn them yet?”

Gabriel stopped dead in his tracks, not even thinking about turning around to face Sean’s expression. He knew from experience that it was best to just walk away, “Let’s not go there. Now, come on!” He walked out of the room with Sean right behind him, still grinning madly. Before walking out the screen door, he gave his mother a hug and kissed her cheek, “Bye, Mama. We’ll see you in a week.”

The woman with the royal purple-colored hair returned the hug greatly and started kissing him all over his face, “I’ll miss you my sweet, baby boy! You be careful up there in those mountains; avalanches have been known to take lives. Now, I’m forgetting something… Oh, yeah! Bring back a little lady! You know I’ve wanted a grandbaby from you.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Gabriel’s face turned bright red from embarrassment, “Mom!”

To save his friend from further humiliation, Sean grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him out the front door with Mae Dawson left waving after them. If they didn’t leave soon, Gabriel would be so red people would mistake him for a stoplight, and they’d end up causing a wreck before ever getting out of Jefferson. In the event that that would ever happen, Gabriel and Sean had made plans to change their names and move to Ireland; Gabriel’s choice of places, of course.

Once they were in Gabriel’s truck, headed for the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, Sean started chuckling to himself until Gabriel turned to look at him, taking his attention off the road and almost hitting a large log in his lane.

“What is so funny, dare I ask?”

“You… and your mom. Is she always like that when you go on trips?”

“Oh, that’s nothing. Last year when I went to Petersburg she got me a shirt that said ‘Kiss me. I’m Irish!’ I swear that woman is going to do something insane someday.”

When they arrived at the airport, the race to get to their gate began. It took them a long time to get through security, and they were almost certain that they were going to miss their flight if the baggage inspection didn’t speed things up. Eventually, the boys were running down the row of terminals, trying to make it in time.

“Well, what took you guys so long? They’ve already started boarding,” One of their friends had been waiting on them, by the way he glared at them.

“Sorry. Ask Gabriel. I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you,” Sean shoved into the back of the green male in order to get him moving down the jet bridge, “Move, shamrock boy!”

The seats they occupied halfway down the plane were somewhat comfortable, except for the fact that Gabriel was stuck by the window. He wasn’t too crazy about heights, and the other kept teasing him in order to freak him out. Other than that small flaw, Gabriel was relaxed.

“Yeah, the leprechaun over here has shamrock boxers. I was saying he’d never get a girl with those things. Although, he might have some luck if he found a blonde, Irish one.”  
Sean and the other boys cracked up laughing until they saw Gabriel, then the laughter turned into hysterics and tears came to their eyes. “Look at him! He’s turning red, again!”

“Knock it off, you guys.” A smile crept across his face.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For most of the trip to Seattle, Gabriel kept his eyes closed and head tilted back against the seat. He found it as a way to escape everything around him rather than listen to his friends rambling on about some unimportant subject. Then a thought crept into his mind. _Maybe they’re right. I do need to find a girl, but where? How? It would be nice to find someone with my same interests and views._ A bump against his arm caused his eyes to open, seeing Sean peering at him with a raised eyebrow. “What? What’s going on?”

“Dude, we’re in Seattle, now. Did you pass out or something?”

Gabriel sat up and stretched his legs before getting up from the seat. After the long flight he was ready to inhale the mountain air, but once outside of the airport he received a face full of rain. It was one part of the trip he wasn’t too familiar with, and hoped wouldn’t last the entire time they were there.

“It’s raining,” his voice was glum, probably from the weather.

Nick brushed past him with two suitcases and threw them into the bed of the rental truck, “It’s always raining in Seattle, but it won’t be when we get into the mountains.” 

“Yeah, the only thing we’ll have to worry about is wolves…” Sean jabbed Gabriel in the ribs before continuing, “Or in his case, hopefully a woman. I hear the Cascades are just overflowing with them.”

His friend shot him an annoyed glare before getting into the truck, “Shut up,” The door slammed shut after he yanked on the seatbelt.

“He’s hopeless.”

The drive to the mountains left Gabriel time to do more thinking. It was the only thing to keep him from getting bored. Once they began hiking the tension would ease off, hopefully. As the landscape turned into mountains, he slipped into deep thought, focusing only on it, _I wonder if I’ll meet someone while up here. It would be nice to finally settle down instead of being dragged all over the country with these guys._ The real world returned several minutes later when he noticed that the sun had slipped behind the peaks, making the roads dangerous, especially with the twisting turns, _God, I hope Sean’s paying attention to the road so we don’t end up in a tree a hundred feet down the mountain._

“Gabe, are you okay? You haven’t said anything in a really long time, “Sean glanced over at the passenger seat, where his friend seemed to stare out the windshield absently, “Gabriel!”

Gabriel shook his head in order to clear his head, “Huh? Sorry, I was spacing out.”

“What have you been thinking about for so long? I have never seen you that deep in thought before.”

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me, Gabe. You can trust me,” he looked back at their two friends in the back seat, “Don’t worry about those two. Nick is konked out and Max has his earbuds in with them cranked up. I highly doubt they’ll be able to hear us.”

He seemed like he was being sincere, but Gabriel wasn’t sure if he should tell Sean about what had been occupying his mind for the past hour, “Alright… I was thinking about what my life would be like if I ever found a girl to marry. I guess what you said earlier struck a chord in me and made me realize what I’ve been missing.”

“See? Listen to your best friend. He does know a thing or two every once in a while.” Sean slowed the truck down as they neared the cabin they had rented for the week and pulled up the driveway until he finally cut the engine. When they hopped out with their suitcases, Gabriel noticed patches of snow glistening in the moonlight. Apparently the snow took a while to melt up at such altitudes.

_Well, at least it’s nice and cool up here. Maybe we’ll go for a swim in the stream tomorrow_ , Gabriel glanced out the window of the cabin and saw a sheen where the stream should be, _Or not. I guess we could start hiking instead._ He sat on the bed nearest the window after pulling on his night pants and brushed his teeth. It was a good thing they were flannel what with him being up in a colder climate. Hopefully he would be able to sleep that night with Sean, Nick, and Max practically snoring in his ear.


	2. Chapter 2

## Chapter 2

The next morning, Gabriel awoke to a chill in the air, but dismissed it as he walked into the kitchen, finding the other boys stuffing their faces with eggs and bacon. When he went over to get his own breakfast two empty plates were all that greeted him.

“Yeah, way to leave me any breakfast, jerks,” he flicked Sean’s ear before going over to the cabinets in hopes of finding something edible. All he found was a box of granola bars, so he had to settle for that.

Sean decided to lighten the mood by talking to his friend, “So, did you sleep well?”

“Let’s see… I had Dumb and Dumber snoring in my ear all night long, and I swear Dumber tried to use me as a body pillow. So, how do you think I slept,” Gabriel replied coolly while gesturing to Nick and Max.

“Ouch. Harsh, dude. “

“Ya think?”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was already high in the sky by the time the boys stopped for a rest on the trail. Sean was in the lead followed by Gabriel and the other boys, who were already complaining about their calves burning. Gabriel glanced down the mountain and saw what looked like a small town. He thought it might be a good idea to stop and get lunch, that was, if it had any restaurants to stop at. Maybe he could convince them to go since he was about to die from hunger. “Hey, guys! How about getting lunch in that town down there?” He called from where he stood.

“Why? Is wittle Gabriel hungry?” Sean joked as he walked by to check out what he’d found.

“You’re pushing it, Sean. I’ll drop-kick you down the mountain if you guys don’t stop,” Gabriel threatened.

All four boys made their way down to the town gradually, but it was nice to just be out in the sunshine with a breeze blowing off the mountains. It was a beautiful day for hiking, and they hoped the rest of the week would be the same.

Thirty minutes later, they entered the town and discovered that the natives were very friendly towards them. Gabriel caught sight of a small diner about a block away and immediately went towards it with the others following behind him. Once inside, he picked a booth nearest one of the windows. After ordering, he found himself gazing out the window at a young woman across the street. It appeared that she was carrying something, but he wasn’t sure as to what.

When Sean realized what his friend was staring at a bit of a smile gleamed at the corners of his mouth, “Aww, looks like Gabe’s found a girl he fancies. I guess it was a good idea to come here. Nice work, Gabriel!”

Gabriel quickly turned to his friend, his cheeks starting to turn red, “I do not! I just happened to notice her, and I was wondering what she was carrying.”

“Uh huh. Right. Don’t deny it, you like her.”

“Alright, fine! I do!”

“Then go talk to her…”

Right then, Max spoke up, “Don’t forget to ask for her number!”

Both Gabriel and Sean stared at him, eyebrows furrowed, “You stay out of this!”

The discussion continued for several more minutes while the boys ate. They never even noticed when the girl Gabriel had been watching entered the diner to pick up an order before slipping out of the door, again. Only after they finished their lunch and tipped their waitress did they head outside. Sean, Max, and Nick saw a sports equipment store down the block and started for it, leaving Gabriel to do what he wanted.

A few minutes later he was leaning against a light pole when he saw the young woman a few yards away, heading for a dark green Camaro parked by the sidewalk. All of a sudden, he saw her stumble and drop her armful of items. The next thing he knew, he found himself running over to help. From the look of it, she was shopping for her mother or sister.

“Just great. The things I get for doing the shopping in the family.”

Gabriel listened curiously to the woman mumbling to herself before seeing that one of her items had rolled a few feet away to where she couldn’t see it, so he decided to give her a helping hand by picking it up. “Excuse me, miss. Here, I believe this is yours.”

The woman looked up at Gabriel when she heard his voice. She saw that he had her lipstick and was very grateful, “Oh, thank you. I must have missed it,” She took the lipstick from him and stuffed it in her purse before he offered his hand to help her up, “Thank you, again. That was very kind of you,” After pushing some hair behind her ear she shook his hand, “Might I ask what your name is?”

When the question was posed towards him, he felt his cheeks turning red again. _Why do I always do that?!_ “Uh, it’s Gabriel Dawson.”

“I’m Kate Rogers It’s nice to meet you.”

“Wait! Kate Rogers, as in the Kate Rogers: daughter of Corey and Cherrie Rogers?”

“Shh! I don’t want people to know. If they ever found out my reputation would be shot,” She was serious when she spoke about the subject matter.

“Don’t worry, Kate. You’re secret’s safe with me,” A smile appeared at the thought of holding such a secret that she had. Right from the start he found himself becoming quite fond of her. The next thing that drew his attention was her eyes: pale blue –almost crystal white- orbs sparkled in the sunlight, “You have really pretty eyes.”

Kate was the one to blush that time. She had never before been complimented on her eye color. “Oh… thank you. I inherited them from my great grandmother on my daddy’s side,” As she got a better look of his face, his aqua blue eyes struck her fancy, “Wow! You’ve got some amazing eyes, yourself. I love that color.”

“Yeah. My mom always talks about them, and I still haven’t figured out why.”

“Your accent… I don’t think I’ve heard it before.”

Gabriel chuckled warmly, “I’m from Texas.”

“No, it sounds foreign. Scottish?”

“Irish… but close,” He resumed leaning against a light pole, arms folded over his chest and one eyebrow arched in amusement, “I’m half Irish. My dad was born in Dublin, Ireland.”

“Cool!” Kate was intrigued by the small sliver of history. She had never really been interested in hearing where people were from, but Gabriel’s history seemed amusing. Before speaking again, something shiny caught her eye: Gabriel’s Celtic necklace, “What type of symbol is that?”

 

Upon realizing what she was asking, he held it up for her to see better, “It’s a Celtic knot… Irish.”

“It’s really pretty. Do you always wear it?” Kate gently turned it over so as not to choke him. The intricate design of the knot made her examine it more closely to see every bit of the hard work that went into it.

“Yes, it’s part of my heritage. I’m very proud of being Irish.”

“Yeah, his boxers will tell you that much.”

Gabriel’s face turned red and he started sweating before his eyes darted to the right, zeroing in on his friend standing a few feet away. The look of death was the only greeting he gave, “Sean, I hope you have a death wish,” he turned to face Kate, “Excuse me while I go pummel him.”

Kate giggled at the sight of Gabriel chasing Sean halfway down the block before pinning him to the ground. She cracked up laughing when the sound of Sean shrieking like a girl could be heard. At least it was something to brighten her day. A smile appeared at the corners of her mouth when Gabriel returned with Sean limping behind him.

“Sorry about that. He was just asking for it,” Gabriel explained, keeping his eye on his friend.

“It’s all right,” she stifled a few more giggles, “So, what’s this about your boxers?”

His eyes widened as he tried to keep from blushing, “Oh, nothing, but this idiot seems to find them hilarious for some reason.”

“They have little, green shamrocks on them!” Sean blurted out.

Gabriel quickly clamped his hand over Sean’s mouth, “Shut. Up.”

Kate continued laughing for a few more seconds; she found humor in watching guys get embarrassed over little things, “Really? Wow, that’s cool. I’ve never met a guy quite like you, Gabriel.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Yes,” when she glanced down at her watch she looked somewhat troubled, “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go, Gabriel. See you around?”

“Yeah,” his voice sounded hopeful, again.

She shook his hand once more, “Thanks, again.”

“You’re welcome, Kate.”

After she drove off down the road, Gabriel looked down and found a small piece of paper in his hand. He had a tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach as he opened it. Written in fine handwriting were Kate’s phone number, address, and the words ‘come by any time’. The fact that a girl gave him her number made Gabriel feel like he was on air.

“Okay, dude. She likes you,” Sean broke in after seeing the note.

“Why do you say that, Sean?”

“Gabe, a girl won’t give you her number unless she likes you.”

With another look at the note in his hand, a smile crept across his face. Could it be true? Did Kate really like him? If she did, then he’d have to show her that he was capable of being a suitable boy for her, but he wasn’t going to take things too quickly. First thing to do was to get to know her better before even considering going out with her as boyfriend and girlfriend. Eventually, if things worked out, he’d like to make her his wife.

“Gabriel! Hello, are you there? Come in, Gabriel! Houston, we have a problem,” Sean began shaking his friend in order to get his attention. After realizing that Gabriel wasn’t all there, he smacked him across the face.

The impact of the hand to his face caused Gabriel to come to after the initial shock of a girl, particularly a very attractive girl, actually talked to him and wanted him to visit her at, none other, than her house, “What the heck was that for?!”

“Come on, Romeo. The guys are probably wondering what happened to us.”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the rest of the hike, Gabriel kept thinking about meeting Kate in town after she had dropped her groceries and such. They had immediately liked each other from the first word, but what was it about her that he liked the most? _Gosh, she had amazing eyes, and her laugh… Yes, her laugh was so adorable. I hope she didn’t think I was an idiot for seeing me blush. Why do I have to do that so easily?_ When he looked up he found himself heading right for a giant tree, and quickly stepped out of the way to keep from hitting it.

 

“Okay, Gabriel, you’ve got it bad. You almost ran into a tree,” Sean fell back to walk with his best friend, “Just go and see her tomorrow. I’m sure she’d be happy to see you, again.”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you afraid?”

“No. I just don’t know if she’d want me to drop by so soon after meeting. I don’t want her to think I’m desperate,” He contemplated everything his friend had said and considered it, but he still wasn’t sure about going to see her again. Maybe it was best to just move on with his life, but then, he really felt that there was a possibility of their new friendship going further, “Alright, I’ll go see her tomorrow. I just hope she doesn’t mind me all of a sudden showing up at her house.”  
His friend rolled his eyes at the words that were said, “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Besides, Nick, Max and I are just going to go check out Mt. Rainier. Nothing fascinating.”  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The temperature had dropped somewhat by the time dinner was over. Sean, Nick and Max were sitting at the table in the kitchen playing a game of cards while they waited on the popcorn to finish popping on the stove. They discussed the amusing meeting between Gabriel and Kate, and even laughed about his blushing in front of her like it was something to poke fun at.

Meanwhile, Gabriel sat on his bed by the window, listening to his so-called ‘friends’ talking about him. It was becoming hard for him to bear the talking any longer, and he eventually gathered up a small bag of essentials, including his cell phone and Kate’s address. He didn’t know exactly where he was going, but it had to be better than sitting there listening to the others. _This is the time to take up that offer of Kate’s_ , Gabriel thought as he quietly slipped out of the window and started for the town.  



	3. Chapter 3

## Chapter3

Morning was somewhat comforting when Gabriel awoke from his restless night. Maybe if he continued on with his plan his day would get better, and hopefully Kate would be happy to see him. _Well, time to go see where she lives._ As he walked through the town, he had second thoughts about going, but then they faded away after he pulled out the address and realized he was getting closer.

The road to Kate’s home was covered in wildflowers and tall trees beside it. A few birds chirped cheerfully when Gabriel passed by, clearly enjoying the landscape around him; being away from the other guys turned out to be a good idea after all. Up ahead, a tall gate loomed, surrounded by flowerbeds. After checking the address once more, he was convinced that it was the right place. “Okay, time to go show myself. Hopefully her father isn’t home.”

After knocking on the front door, he waited for a few seconds before the door opened. Standing in the doorway was none other than Kate’s father, Corey. _Crap._ “Hi, is Kate here?”

A smile spread across Corey’s face at the sight of Gabriel. “Ah, you must be the one who helped my little girl yesterday. It’s nice to meet you,” He shook Gabriel’s hand, then turned to the living room, “Kate! Get your butt down here!”

Gabriel looked inside while waiting on Kate to come downstairs. Pounding on the landing told him she was on her way, but he almost panicked when he saw her stumble on the bottom step and fall flat on her stomach. Instantly, he ran over to help her up to her feet, “Oh my gosh! Are you all right?”

Kate dusted herself off, mumbling something under her breath, “Yeah, I’m fine,” When she looked up at the person who was talking her eyes sparkled in surprise, “Gabriel! What are you doing here?”

“You said to come by any time. So, here I am,” His eyebrows rose at the sight of her expression, “Is this a bad time?”

“No! I just wasn’t expecting you to come this soon… or at all.”

Corey sidestepped out of the room to give the two of them privacy so they could talk and catch up on things. Secretly, he hoped that their newfound friendship would develop into something more, but he would let them decide where it would go. _Nice guy, and Kate seems very fond of him considering she never stopped talking about him last night._

Once he was out of earshot, Kate led Gabriel over to the couch where she motioned for him to have a seat, “So, how have you been? Did you sleep well last night?”

He sighed heavily and leaned back against the couch, “Not really.”

“Oh, How come?”

“My friends kept talking about you and me. They think I should make you my girlfriend and all this other crap.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Her question made him look over at her, “Nothing, but I just didn’t want to rush things. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes… but you shouldn’t let something like that get you down,” She bit her lip while deciding whether or not to tell him how she felt about the whole thing, then made up her mind, “Besides, I am very grateful for your kind service yesterday, and I really like you.”

Both of them started to blush violently, but calmed down when Kate asked another question. “So… um, what do you do as one of your hobbies?”

The question was one he was happy to answer since he enjoyed doing it so much, “I’m a Civil War re-enactor. I ride in the 1st Texas Cavalry with my friend, Sean whenever we go to a reenactment. Actually, the one in my home town is coming up in a few weeks.”

“Cool!” She seemed sincerely intrigued by what he was saying that she had to ask more. “Are there any girl re-enactors?”

“Sure. There’s always hundreds of them running around in those giant dresses and hoop skirts. There’s even some in the infantry and artillery.”

Kate sat listening to every word that came out of his mouth. She had never imagined meeting someone like Gabriel, who seemed like the type that would be involved in things such as a reenactment. “You know, I’ve always had this secret passion for that kind of thing, but my parents have expected me to continue singing like them or go into the medical field.”

“You don’t have to do it. Just go in the direction you choose,” He cleared his throat while twisting a tassel on the couch, “How old are you, Kate?”

“Twenty-three. How about you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Really? Wow.”

Gabriel and Kate sat in complete silence for a few minutes, waiting for the other to say something. It could have been that neither one of them knew what to say or how far would be appropriate to ask. They listened to Kate’s father upstairs talking to Roxanne. Eventually, Kate stood up and offered her hand to help him up.

“Want to go outside and walk around?” She asked with a small smile.

He returned the smile before following her out the front door and into the rose garden. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

“I’ve never really had a desire to have one.”

“Oh.” At hearing her answer, Gabriel sounded a little hurt. He had hoped that she would want to have him as her boyfriend.  
Kate glanced over at him, and seeing his hurt expression, felt bad about what she had said and wanted to make up for it, “But that’s different now. I think I found the perfect man this week.”

His face brightened a little after hearing her, “Oh, who?”

“Well, he’s the cutest guy I’ve ever met, and I absolutely love his personality and smile,” The way she held her voice made the conversation sound a little mysterious. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gabriel walking beside her with his hands in his jeans pockets. “Plus, every time he blushes it make me want to kiss him.”

Almost instantly, Gabriel stumbled and ran into a small tree that he could have swore popped up out of nowhere, or maybe it was from the initial shock of the one girl that he found attractive saying she wanted to kiss him. At least, he hoped he was the one she was referring to. _Wow, she’s not afraid to say what she feels_ , he thought while Kate pulled him up to his feet.

“Are you okay?” Kate slapped his cheek in order to snap him back to reality.

“Yeah, but for a minute I thought you said you wanted to kiss me.”

“I did,” She waited for him to reply, but he never did. A snicker emerged when his blushing face caught her attention; it was one thing about him that had always made her smile ever since they had met, “You’re blushing!” After finding a mirror in her pocket, Kate handed it to him, “You blush easily, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Gabriel turned the mirror so he could see the color of his cheeks, “And it’s so embarrassing when I do.”

She stepped over beside him and rested her chin on his shoulder, then reached up to pinch the apple of his cheek. “I think it’s cute, Gabriel. Actually, that’s what made me notice you yesterday,” Her tone turned soft and sweet in the next few seconds she was near him. There was something about his presence that emanated from him every time he said something in his smooth, fluent Irish accent; it made her feel comfortable. _Now that kind of voice is one every man should have_. “Good heavens! Your accent is just about to cause me to have a heart attack!”

“Why?”

“Every time you say something it sends shivers down my spine.”

“Then, do you want me to stop talking?”

“No! I love your voice,” Kate took his hand in her own, shaking slightly from nervousness. His grip was gentle on hers whenever he felt her touch. Never before had she felt anything like she did around Gabriel. _He has no idea how much I like him. Hmm, I think I’ll take him to my mountain ridge_ , “Gabriel, follow me. I want to show you something very special to me.” 

The path they took to Kate’s ridge was magical in a sense, surrounded by flowering plants and different colored stones making up the path they followed. It almost looked like a horse had travelled it many times over the years from the way the patches of dirt had been exposed from underneath the stones. A few paces ahead of them a rabbit darted out of a berry bush into a patch of mountain laurel, making the two laugh. The landscape seemed so peaceful and refreshing from being up at a higher altitude. In the distance the snow-capped peak of Mt. Rainier soared above the cotton-like clouds, standing proud and majestic among the smaller mountains of the Cascade Range.

_If only Mom could see this place, see would love it!_ Gabriel thought as he followed closely behind Kate, keeping an eye on the way she stepped gracefully over the small logs obstructing the path. _I wonder what Kate’s thinking right now_ , “Where are you taking me, Kate?”

“You’ll see!” Her voice resonated off the rocks beside the path.

“Oh no! Is this the part where you get me in a secluded area, kill me, and leave me for the wolves?”

She chuckled warmly at his attempt at a joke, “No. Just wait, we’re almost there.” A few minutes later, Kate pulled back an evergreen branch, revealing a large mountain ridge covered in laurel and the delicate, creamy white blossoms of Lily of the Valley. Toward the edge of the ridge, overlooking the mountain range was a gray rock which could be used for sitting on. From some unknown area of the forest, the crashing of a waterfall could be heard, along with the various noises of animals curious to see who had entered their part of the forest.

“Well, this is it,” Kate sucked in a lungful of air before leading Gabriel over to the sitting rock.

At the sight of the ridge, Gabriel stared in pure amazement. Never in his life had he seen a place quite as beautiful. Well, maybe one but that would be revealed later when he was ready to show Kate. For the time being, he would just relax and enjoy the scenery around him. “Wow! How did you find this place, Kate?”

“I was just riding Honey one day and we kind of stumbled across it,” She sat down on the rock and motioned for Gabriel to join her, “This is where I come when I need to be alone or to think. It just gives me a sense of peace.”

He remained quiet for some time, soaking in what she had said, “You know, that’s how I feel after the reenactments I go to, and in the early morning hours before the other re-enactors are awake and making noise.”

“Have you ever been to this reenactment called Honey Springs? I hear it happens every three years, and I was wondering if you’d been since you live so close to it.”

“No, but I’m going this year with Sean and some other cavalry members, Gabriel became quiet while he thought about the reenactment. “Would you like to go with me?”

Kate’s eyes widened in shock; even though she had always wanted to go to one, she didn’t know what to wear so she’d be period correct, “I’d love to, but I don’t have any period clothes. Plus, what would I sleep in?”

“Time to start sewing, then,” He chuckled. “As for sleeping accommodations, I’ve got a large wall tent that I always use, and I’ll need help setting it up. Not to mention, our cook is really amazing when it comes to cooking over a campfire in cast iron pans and kettles.”

“I don’t sew. Which means I guess I can’t go with you,” She became sadden by the fact, but cheered up when she felt Gabriel wrap his arm around her shoulders.

“Don’t worry, I know someone who can make you some dresses and underpinnings to fit you.”  
“Underpinnings?”

“…The clothes that you wear underneath the dress, like the corset, pantalettes, and chemise.”

“Oh,” She leaned closer to him without even realizing it, “I’d appreciate it greatly if you could ask her.”

“I’d be happy to, Kate,” He felt somewhat uncomfortable with her getting closer to him. _Oh no. What am I supposed to do now? I don’t want to disappoint her, so I don’t want to move too quickly_. “So, you’d seriously like to go with me?”

“Of course! I just don’t know how your re-enactor friends will feel about me being there.”

“They’d love to have you there. Actually, they keep asking me when I’m going to bring a woman,” He could feel his cheeks blushing slightly and tried to hide it, but it was useless.

“You’re blushing, again!” Kate started laughing before hugging him tightly, “You’re so cute when you do that. It makes me smile every time.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The evening started to get cool while the two enjoyed strolling along the banks of a stream, which wound its way through the forest. Kate had wrapped her sweater around her shoulders with Gabriel holding onto her hand, taking small steps in order for her to keep up with him. They were on their way to the house when they heard a noise behind them, and turned around to see Nick and Max advancing quickly with sneers on their faces. Gabriel stopped, along with Kate, to see what they needed.

“Well, looks like we found out where he’s been all day, Max,” Nick held an edge to his voice and sneered, “We’ve been wondering where you’ve been, Gabriel, but it’s very clear to us, now. So, you think it’s better to ditch us when we went to Mt. Rainier for this girl?”  
Gabriel clenched his fists, trying to keep himself from punching Nick in the face,” What I do is none of your business. Leave us alone, Nick… and where is Sean?”

“Who knows? He disappeared an hour ago. Didn’t want to come,” He turned to face Kate, “So, has he screwed with you, yet?”  
Kate was shocked by the question, and even disgusted, “Excuse me?!”

“I’m guessing that’s a ‘no’. Well, that’s just like him. Little Gabe’s too afraid to even think about going that far. He hasn’t even kissed a girl.”

“Shut up, Nick. That’s not true… I’m warning you,” Gabriel was outraged by that point with Kate standing behind him for protection.  
Max was the one to speak next, “She’s mighty pretty. I’d surely like her to be my girlfriend.”

“Gross!” Kate started backing away when Gabriel leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“Run, Kate! Get back to your house!”

At his instruction, Kate bolted in the opposite direction, leaping over a downed tree and panicked when she heard Nick tell Max to go after her and bring her back. The tension she felt in her entire body was overwhelming; she had to get to the house, knowing it was just on the other side of the tall pines ahead of her. The next thing she knew, she was yanked to the ground where her head hit a small rock. Max held onto her calves while she scrambled to get to her feet, “Get away from me! Gabriel… Help me!”

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Nick were still confronting each other by the stream. Both of them were up in each other’s faces, spitting threats until the other snapped. Gabriel was near punching Nick until his so-called ‘friend’ said, “You know, I don’t think you deserve that girl. She probably doesn’t even like you, Gabe.”

“That’s a lie! And what makes you think you deserve her?”

Nick leaned back and pointed toward himself, “Because I can give her what she wants.”

“Kate would never give you something so precious!”

“Like she’d give it to you.”

Gabriel clenched his teeth together, growling deep in his throat, “I hope you burn in Hell.”

Upon hearing Gabriel, Nick pulled back his hand, and thrusting it forward, hit Gabriel square in the cheek. Gabriel felt Nick’s ring catch the skin under his cheekbone and cut a gash across it. Warm blood trickled down his cheek, but he stood there, seething.

“Get out of here, Nick… and don’t you ever come around Kate or me again.”

“Fine,” Nick glared at Gabriel for a long time before turning and running off.

For a few minutes Gabriel forced himself to calm down until he heard Sean heading toward him, “Sean, what are you doing here?”

His friend skidded to a stop before plowing into Gabriel, “I called your phone to warn you about Nick and Max… where’s Kate?”

“I told her to run, and Max went after her. I pray she made it to the house.”

A loud scream in the distance alerted the boys of the worst. Both of them took off running with Gabriel in the lead, determined to get to Kate before she was hurt. Within two minutes time, they found her curled up on the ground, crying. Gabriel noticed she had a few cuts on her arm and a large bruise on her hip.

“Oh, my God. Kate, what happened?” Gabriel dropped down to his knees beside her.

She tried to speak, but was too shaken to get the words out. Her condition told Gabriel she needed medical attention, and remembered Kate telling him earlier in the afternoon that her father was a doctor at the hospital in town.

“Sean, we have to get her to the hospital so her dad can check her over for injuries,” Gabriel gently lifted her into his arms and walked with Sean toward the truck where he laid her across the back seat. Afterwards, he got in the driver’s seat next to his friend before pulling out of the driveway onto the main road into town. _God, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have told her to run when I knew something like this was going to happen._ He quickly glanced over the back of the seat to check on the young woman, “Hang on, Kate. We’re taking you to the hospital, because you need to be examined for any internal injuries.”

By the time they pulled into the hospital’s parking lot Kate was moaning in pain. Once the truck was parked, Gabriel removed her from the back seat and carried her up to the front desk just inside the front door. The receptionist looked at the three of them, stunned when she realized that one of her boss’s daughters had been brought in.

“We need doctor Rogers!” Gabriel practically yelled at the receptionist.

“Which one?”

Gabriel stared at the receptionist for a few seconds before replying, “They both work here? Then get her father!”

The receptionist nodded and quickly got on the intercom, “Doctor Corey Rogers, we need you down here at the front desk immediately.”

Several long minutes had passed by when Kate’s father ran down the hallway, his white doctor’s coat flapping out behind him. The instant he saw Gabriel holding Kate, who was lying limp in his arms, the questions flew.

“What happened to her, Gabriel?” Corey leaned over and inspected a small cut on her upper arm.

“I’d rather not talk about it out here,” Gabriel’s voice sounded grim as he looked around to see who was around.

Corey’s head snapped up, “Gabriel I need to know what happened in order for me to figure out how to help her. If you don’t feel comfortable saying it out loud, then tell me in my ear.”

Gabriel glanced down at Kate, who moaned again, and sighed. He knew he had to tell Corey what had happened, otherwise Kate might be in serious danger. The thought that she had had something so special ripped away from her made him cringe.

Once Corey knew what to look for, he took her back to an exam room, leaving Sean and Gabriel sitting in some of the leather chairs by the tall glass windows of the front lobby. Sean did everything he could to cheer his friend up, but Gabriel was too down in the dumps to even care… he barely even noticed the gash on his cheek.

“God, why did I let that happen to her,” Gabriel slumped forward with his head in his hands.

Sean laid his hand on his back to console him, “She’s going to be all right, Gabriel. Her dad will know how to help her.”  
An hour crept by while the boys waited on the news of Kate. Finally, Corey returned to the lobby, a small smile on his face. He sat down next to Gabriel and immediately noticed the gash, “Looks like you got popped a good one,” He joked and gently prodded around the wound, “Ah, this will just need a few stitches, nothing to worry about. Now, I suppose you want to know about Kate’s condition.”

“Yes, how is she?”

“She wasn’t hurt too badly, just a couple bumps and scrapes. Now, I did give her some medicine to prevent her from getting pregnant,” Corey prepared to stick the injection of a numbing agent into Gabriel’s cheek, “You’re gonna feel a little sting.”

Gabriel winced slightly from the poke, “It’s my fault this happened to her. I shouldn’t have told her to run.”

“No, it’s not. You were just trying to protect her, and I thank you for that,” Kate’s father finished suturing the gash and clipped off the excess, “She’s going to be pretty sore for a few days, but she’ll be fine. And I’d appreciate it if you would take her home and have her rest. Cherrie’s here, and Kate will listen to you before she will her mother.”

“Alright, and would it be okay if Sean stays with us?” Gabriel indicated his friend sitting beside him.

“It’s fine with me, and I’m sure Kate would be happy with the extra company.”

Kate leaned against Gabriel on the way back to her house while Sean drove the short distance. He kept glancing back at the two, but decided to leave them be. The signs of Gabriel and Kate’s friendship growing into something more was obvious in so many ways, especially right then.  
The sky was completely dark when Sean helped Gabriel get Kate into the house where they had her lay on the couch. She tried to get back up as soon as her body touched the couch cushions, but Gabriel gently forced her back down.

“You need to take it easy, Kate,” His voice was soft but had authority when he spoke. He figured she’d listen to him, instead she refused to obey what he asked, “I’m serious. You’re hurt and need to rest.”

“I will not! You can’t tell me what I need to do,” Kate crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.

Gabriel rubbed his temples with his eyes closed, “Yes, you are definitely southern in my book. Now, will you please lie down?”

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you get?”

“Sean, help me.”

“Sorry. This is all you,” Sean was leaning against the door frame, watching the squabble, “Congratulations! You’re first fight.”

“Shut up.”

“Well, I better go. I need to get a hotel room,” And with that, Gabriel’s friend disappeared into the night.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some time later Kate agreed to rest, only if Gabriel let her lay against him. He had kicked off his shoes before finding a comfortable position leaning against the corner of the couch with his legs stretched out across the cushions. Kate’s body felt soft as cotton on his, except that she had rather bony shoulders which jabbed him in the ribs. _This is going to be so difficult when I have to leave. I better let her know now so she can prepare herself_ , “Kate, I have to leave on Sunday to go back home. I just want you to know now so you won’t be in for a surprise when that day comes.”

She lifted her head to get a better look at him and whispered, “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I know, I know,” He held her close to him, breathing in her sweet scent that he had become so fond of. If it was up to him, nothing in the world would keep him from her. Eventually, both of them had fallen asleep, not even stirring when Kate’s parents had returned home from the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

## Chapter 4

On the last night of Gabriel’s vacation, he and Kate sat silently on the rock in the beautiful clearing. Neither of them were ready for what was coming in mere minutes: saying goodbye. They had grown so close to one another over the past week that it would be hard to bear not seeing each other. Everything had turned out to be the best time of their lives, and once she left it would have to end.

_God, why does it have to be like this? I don’t want to leave, but I have to go home_ , Gabriel was trying to keep himself from breaking down altogether while thinking about what he could do to cheer Kate up. Eventually, the tension became too much for him, and he got up and started pacing. “Kate, I have to leave, my home is in Texas. You know I don’t want to, but I have to. My family and friends are there.”

“What about me? Don’t you care anything about me… about us?” Kate’s voice wavered as she bit back tears; she had grown so fond of Gabriel and wanted to stay with him.

“Of course I do, Kate. You can’t possibly think otherwise,” He stopped in front of her and tilted her head back to look into her eyes. “I don’t want to leave you, but I don’t have any other choice. I’ll still take you with me to a reenactment, but I need to figure out what’s going on with my life, right now,” Gabriel wrapped her up in a hug when she started to cry. “Oh, please don’t cry, Kate. You’ll see me again.”

Kate held onto him tightly, continuing to cry even though she didn’t want to, “I don’t want you to leave, Gabriel.”

He pulled out his phone to check the time, cursing under his breath when he realized their time was almost up, “I’ve got to go now, I can’t miss my flight,” with a final hug, he would end his vacation, but not before impulse forced him to do something that shocked both of them.

Before Kate knew what was happening, she felt Gabriel tenderly press his lips to hers. The sudden show of affection almost caused her to go into convulsions of joy. From that moment on it was very clear where his feelings were. _Oh, my gosh! Is he seriously kissing me?_ All too soon, the intoxicating moment ended when Gabriel pulled away from her and stood straight.

“I’ve got to go, but don’t worry, I’ll stay in touch. I promise, Kate,” And with that, he turned to walk down the path, leaving her sitting on the rock, staring after him until she could no longer see his figure in the growing darkness.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The time passed slowly while Gabriel and Sean waited to board their plane that would take them back to their sunny home state. Nick and Max had already gone back, but Sean had stayed with Gabriel. For Gabriel, the time couldn’t pass any slower since it meant he was still near to Kate, but that changed when their number was called to board. Great, now I’m having second thoughts.

“Come on, Gabe,” Sean pulled his friend up from the chair and the two of them started down the jet bridge.

About halfway down, Gabriel stopped dead in his tracks, unmoving. What am I doing? This isn’t right. He stared right at his friend when Sean turned around after realizing Gabriel had stopped, “What are you doing? The plane’s getting ready to leave.”

“I can’t do this, Sean.”

“Yes, you can. You did it the first time. Just get on and buckle up, it’s that easy,” after seeing his friend still staring, he continued. “Look, you’ll get on that plane even if I have to get behind you and push.”

Gabriel picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, “I’m not going, Sean. I can’t leave.”

“Oh, no! Gabriel, you can’t be serious! You just met her, and now you’re staying because of her?” Sean rubbed his temples as he contemplated the issue.

“I’m sorry, Sean,” without another word, Gabriel turned his back on his past life and ran back up the jet bridge to what mattered then. When he   
got outside of the airport the rain had started to fall in sheets, again, but he didn’t care. Once inside another rental truck, he gunned the engine before speeding away from the airport. When he pulled onto the highway, he nearly collided with a tractor trailer, but that was the least of his worries. _This is the right path, and no one is going to tell me otherwise. I’m sure Mom’s going to have a fit when she finds out, but I could care less._

The rain continued to fall as the truck pulled into the long driveway which lead to the large house, whose lights twinkled in the dark. After slamming the truck door shut, Gabriel hurried up the porch steps two at a time and rang the doorbell, hoping Kate would be the one to answer. His hopes were dashed when Kate’s father opened the door.

“Gabriel? I thought you had a plane to catch?”

“Long story, but no time to tell,” He glanced inside, trying to see if Kate was in the living room. “Can I speak with Kate?”

Corey’s face fell slightly, “She hasn’t come back in, and her mother and I are getting worried. You would think she’d have enough sense to come inside when it’s raining.” 

Upon hearing that Kate hadn’t returned home, Gabriel knew exactly where to find her, “I know where she is,” he immediately took off running up the path leading to the mountain ridge where he had left her. His face lit up when he saw her through the darkness and rain, still sitting on the rock, her elbows resting on her knees and her face in her hands. It seemed as if she never even noticed the rain soaking her, nor cared. Gabriel felt horrible seeing her in that state after he had left her, “Kate!” 

The rain-soaked woman lifted her head after hearing the familiar Irish accent she had fallen in love with. Her heart started beating once more as Gabriel walked toward her through the sheeting rain, his aqua eyes twinkling in the faint moonlight, “Gabriel… what are you doing? You’re going to miss your flight.”

Gabriel gathered Kate up in his arms, resting his cheek against hers while she choked back tears. Even he had to contain himself from breaking down and crying, “No, I’m not… because I’m not going. There are just some things that are more important to me,” he rubbed her back in order to soothe her after causing her so much pain. “Now, let’s get you inside before you catch a cold. Your parents are worried about you,” with a small heave, he carefully lifted her into his arms.

“Well, you’re quite the gentleman,” Kate commented after a while.

“No, I just don’t want you falling. The path is very slippery, and I should know. I just about twisted my hip out of socket,” Gabriel glanced down at her rain-streaked face. “Just curious, but how long were you going to sit there?”

She chuckled softly, “I don’t know. Until you came back or Daddy called out a search team… Wait! How’d you get here so quickly?”

“I was doing about eighty on the highway. Good thing there weren’t any cops around.”

“Wow! You are a rebel,” she shifted her weight. “Why didn’t you go? Scared of flying?”

His eyebrows furrowed, “Why do you people think I’m scared of flying?”

A few minutes later, Gabriel opened the front door with Kate still in his arms, insisting he put her down. Eventually her parents entered the room with worried expressions on their faces. Cherrie immediately went over to them and started fussing like a mother hen.

“Good heavens! Look at you two!” She exclaimed when she saw the water dripping off them.

“Where do you want me to take her, Mrs. Rogers?” Gabriel questioned and shifted his weight

“Upstairs to change…”

Corey broke in while trying to hide a smile, “And it looks like you could use a change yourself.”

“I’ve got some dry clothes out in the truck,” he glanced down at Kate when he felt her kick him in the thigh. “Yes? Can I help you?”

“For the last time, put me DOWN!” Her voice held a tinge of anger as well as annoyance; she wasn’t about to be treated like a damsel in distress.

On command, Gabriel dropped her on the couch without saying a word. He smirked before heading outside to get his clothes, trying to figure out where he was going to sleep. _I wonder how comfortable the truck would be? Nah, I’ll just get a hotel room in town._ His thoughts dwindled when he walked back into the warm house where he smelled coffee brewing. The next thing he knew Corey had snuck up behind him with a dry towel.

“You can change in the upstairs bathroom, and then come down here and warm up with some coffee. Do you drink coffee?”

“Yes, all the time,” Gabriel quickly scaled the stairs in order to get to the bathroom before he had to explain about the reenactments. On the way down the hall he passed by Kate’s room, where the door wasn’t completely shut. To save himself an embarrassing explanation later, he decided it was best not to look. Once he was safe in the bathroom, Gabriel stripped off his soaking clothes and hung them over the shower curtain rod before drying off with the towel Corey had given him, thinking about different things as he did so. _Her parents seem really nice. I hope they like me._

By the time he returned to the living room, Kate was already curled up on the couch, a fleece blanket wrapped around her while she sipped from her mug of coffee. Her head shot up when she heard him enter, her eyes shining in the lamplight, “That was fast!”

“You learn to dress quickly when you’re a re-enactor and have officers yelling at you to start drilling. Believe me, some of these people insist on doing everything authentically,” Gabriel pulled over a chair and sat down facing her. “I’ve had the misfortune of getting hit across the head with the side of a sergeant’s sword all because my “CS” belt buckle wasn’t polished, not to mention, slightly off center. And get this, I was a major at the time, a higher-ranking officer than the sergeant!”

“Well, you should have had your buckle polished. By the way, what happened to the sergeant?”

“He switched over to the Union side.”

Kate’s parents walked into the room before sitting down next to Kate, who wanted to hear more about Gabriel’s fascinating hobby. Corey raised an eyebrow at the male with the green hair, “So, what’s this about you being a re-enactor?”

“Oh, I’m a Confederate Civil War re-enactor,” Gabriel replied happily.

“Just Confederate?”

“Okay, I take that back. Sometimes I have to switch sides when they don’t have enough damn Yankees registered,” he found himself staring at 

Kate longer than he intended since her parents were watching his every move. _There’s no reason to start freaking out._ “But I still enjoy every minute of it. Actually, I asked Kate if she’d like to go with me to a reenactment sometime.”

The room remained silent for several seconds until Cherrie spoke up, a hint of excitement in her voice, “That sounds like fun. You should definitely take up his offer, Kate. I bet you’ll have a blast!” Then she posed a question toward Gabriel. “When is the next reenactment?”

Gabriel sighed, “Well, the next one is in my hometown of Jefferson, but the registration is already full. However, I might be able to get her in. The one I’ll be going to after that is Honey Springs, and I’m planning on taking her to that one, also,” he smiled warmly at the blonde woman sitting across from him, who returned the smile with her eyes. “That is, if she still wants to go.”

Kate immediately sat up straight, causing her blanket to fall from her shoulders. She didn’t even care if they were exposed to the cold air, “Of course I do! I want to experience how people lived back in that era.”

For over an hour the four of them sat in the room talking about Gabriel and what he did as a re-enactor. Kate and her parents listened intently while he explained how the tents were set up in rows. They enjoyed listening to everything he had to say and didn’t even realize how late it was getting. After a while Cherrie brought up another question.

“Where are you staying tonight, Gabriel?”

The question startled Gabriel somewhat; since he had gotten into talking about re-enacting he had forgotten about his sleeping situation, “Oh, I was going to get a hotel room.”

“Nonsense! You can stay here tonight so you don’t have to worry about finding a hotel. Also, I’m sure the spare room is much cleaner.”

“Are you serious? You want me to stay here… in the same house as your daughter?” He looked at her skeptically.

Cherrie leaned over and set her hand on his shoulder, “We trust you, Gabriel. You’ve been very sweet to Kate, and we thank you for that,” she glanced over at Kate, who was drifting closer to sleep. “Now, you two better get some sleep.”

Kate walked Gabriel down the hallway, where she stopped at the door to the spare bedroom. She watched him curiously while he took the opportunity to kiss her once more. After parting, he hugged her before closing the door and heading over to the bed where he crawled under the warm blankets. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep tonight, _knowing Kate is just down the hall. Apparently her parents do like me, otherwise they probably would have told me to leave._ Gabriel turned over onto his back so that he was staring up at the dark ceiling, his eyelids becoming heavy.


	5. Chapter 5

## Chapter 5

A small jostling of the bed woke Gabriel up early the next morning, and he opened his eyes to find Kate’s pale eyes gazing down into his. The pleasant awakening was the foretelling of a great day for the both of them. Normally, Gabriel wasn’t one for being woken up early unless he was at a reenactment.

“Good morning!” Kate greeted him in her sweet voice. “Breakfast is ready.”

He pushed himself onto his elbows so he could see her more clearly, “Really? What time is it?”

“Seven-thirty,” she headed for the door and stopped when he started to say something. “Shall I wait for you to get dressed?”

“If you want. It won’t take me long,” Gabriel was already out of bed and reaching for his jeans, which had somehow ended up folded on the chair by the window, along with his shirt. _Kate._ He noticed the house felt warm as he walked out into the hallway to meet up with Kate while pulling his long hair back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

Kate’s parents greeted them at the kitchen table a few minutes later. Both of them seemed to be in a good mood, but Gabriel knew from experience that parents could change in a heartbeat.

“Did you sleep well, Gabriel?” Corey was busy giving Roxanne her bottle; otherwise the four of them would have to endure her crying throughout breakfast.

“It took me a little while to fall asleep, but yes,” he started loading his plate with bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, and eggs. “I guess I just had too much on my mind last night.”

Cherrie was the next person to ask a question, “So, what are your plans for today?”

“Well, I need to call my mother, because I’m sure she’s…” As if on cue, Gabriel’s cell phone started to ring, making him cringe. _Just lovely._ “Yes?... Mom, I’m fine… I’m still in Washington… No, I did not get thrown in jail, at least not yet… Mom, calm down!... I don’t know when I’ll be home… Okay, Mom, breathe!... Stop freaking out… Don’t you dare call the police… Yes, I’ll call Dad,” _Like he’s worried about me, anyway._ “Okay, bye, Mom… Bye!” He quickly snapped his phone shut and shoved it into his pocket, then looked up to see the other three staring directly at him, eyebrows raised. “Okay, that went over well. Next time remind me to call her the night I’m supposed to be home so she doesn’t have an aneurysm.”

Kate chuckled as she chewed a piece of egg before getting up to put her plate in the sink, “Gabriel, do you think you could show us some of the things you do in the cavalry?”

A smile came to Gabriel’s face as soon as she asked the question, “Do you have a horse I can work with? Preferably one who’s well-trained?”  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabriel trotted the brown gelding around in a tight circle, then turned him the other direction; a way of making the horse learn to follow its rider’s sudden decisions. Afterwards, he pushed the gelding into a canter and jerked back on the reins, causing him to skid to a stop in front of Kate, “Now, that’s just basic drill. The next thing I’m going to show you guys is very dangerous, and I’m the only one in my cavalry division who’s trained to do this. Don’t worry, your horse will be fine,” he whipped the gelding around and kicked him until he was galloping down the pasture, when all of a sudden Gabriel jerked the reins up and to the side while using leg pressure, pulling the horse off its feet. The impact of the ground came quickly, but Gabriel brought the horse right back to its feet and eased him to a stop before dismounting. “And there you have it.”

“When do you ever do that?” Kate was still in shock after seeing one of their horses pulled to the ground. 

“There are times when I’m supposed to act like Bo gets hit by a bullet during the battle. He is specially trained just for that maneuver.”

Corey stood nearby with his arms crossed over his chest, “Impressive. You’ve got quite a deal going for you with this reenactment business,” right at that moment he realized what time it was. “Oh, we’ve got to get to work, Cherrie,” then turned back to Kate and Gabriel. “We won’t be back until late tonight, so you two just find something to occupy yourselves with. And Gabriel…”

The man with the green hair looked up, “Yes?”

“Feel free to stay here again tonight. Cheer and I don’t mind a bit.”

“Okay, thank you. I appreciate it very much.”

The afternoon grew into a beautiful centerpiece for the two after her parents had left. They decided to walk around outside and enjoy the warm sunshine while they could, along with learning more about each other’s lives. As the moments ticked by, Kate moved ever closer to Gabriel, taking in his features. At a closer glance, she saw that Gabriel had a small, gold hoop earring in the cartilage of his left ear.

“Wow! I didn’t realize your ear was pierced,” she commented. “Did it hurt?”

He turned his attention over to her, a smile shining, “Not really.” 

“Who did it?”

“Sean. He held me down and shoved one of Mom’s sewing needles through after numbing it with ice,” without even thinking, Gabriel wrapped his arm around Kate’s waist, feeling how delicate she was, which brought back the painful memory of the peril she had been through earlier in the week. “Are you feeling better now?”

“I’m still a little sore, but I can handle it.”

He sighed heavily, “Kate, I am so sorry that happened to you. I should have stayed with you.”

Kate lightly pressed her finger to his lips, silencing him, “It’s not your fault. I could be seriously hurt, or possibly even dead, if it wasn’t for you. I was so scared at the time, but then you showed up to comfort me. You even got yourself injured in the process.”

“It’s okay. Believe me, I would have been hurt a lot worse if something happened to you… Well, worse than what did.”

She chuckled to herself, and then caught sight of movement ahead of them. At a closer look she saw that it was a doe and her fawns retreating into the safety of the forest, “So cute. Do you have any wildlife where you live, Gabriel?”

“Do skunks and opossums count?”

Kate burst out laughing, tears coming to her eyes, “No, I don’t think so.”

“The dang critters keep getting into the trash and driving Charlie nuts.”

“Is Charlie your dog?”

“Yeah, he’s our Golden Retriever. Actually, he’s my parents dog, but for some reason he likes to sleep with me,” Gabriel rolled his eyes and sighed. “He’s a great personal space heater in the winter.”

“I can see why.”

During the relaxing walk Kate concentrated on keeping her eyes averted so as to not strike up an inappropriate conversation, but curiosity got the better of her, “Have you ever had a girlfriend?”

“No,” _Damn! I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just digging my hole deeper._ “Well, yeah, but I’ll tell you about it later.”

She was confused by what he was saying, but didn’t want to intrude on his personal life. If it was anything, she wanted to gain his trust up front, and that would be the wrong way of going about it. Instead, she thought of another question to ask, “Since you’re Irish, do you drink whisky?”

The question made him laugh out loud for a few seconds, “Okay, just because I’m Irish you automatically assume I drink whisky? Actually, I do… but only at reenactments, and even then I stay more than half way sober considering I’m in charge of the 1st Texas Cavalry. Wouldn’t that be lovely, me instructing a bunch of rebels, who are probably drunker than a skunk, in the middle of cannon fire and a gaggle of squirrely guys who don’t even know which haversack they put their gunpowder and caps in. I swear my horse gets drunker than I do. Some of the guys in our camp pour the rest of their bottles into his water bucket. Now, when you have twenty or thirty men in camp, all with their bottles half empty when they pour it in, it makes for one drunken horse. One morning Bo was stumbling around so much there was no hope for him being ridden that day,” Gabriel grinned at Kate’s surprised expression. “So, does that answer your question?”

Kate was almost too stunned to reply, but she eventually found her voice, “Uh, yeah. Okay, what are your parents like, Gabriel?”  
“My dad’s just like me; we both have the Irish accent, but his is much stronger since he’s from Dublin. My mom is from Arkansas and acts pretty much the same as your mom,” _You’ll get to meet them really soon if I stick to my plan. Good thing I always keep that ring with me. Maybe this time it will stay on a woman’s finger longer than it had. God, I miss you, Susan._ “Anything else?”

She thought long and hard for several minutes before thinking of something else to ask, “Have you ever suffered a heartache?”

The wrong question to ask; Gabriel could feel the tears building up, but he shook his head in order to diminish the painful memory from earlier on in his life. When Kate noticed the hurt look in his eyes she instantly regretted asking her question, “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have asked that.”

He held up his hand for her to be silent, “Stop. It’s not your fault. I need to forget everything bad that’s happened and move on with my life. Besides, I’ve already found someone to ease my pain,” he scuffed his foot along the ground and kept up with her. “My turn to ask the questions… What is your one dream?”

“Certainly not singing,” her reply was serious by the way she answered. “But I would say having a family of my own. What about you?”

 _I thought she’d bring that up_ , “This may sound a little clichéd for me to be saying… but I’ve always wanted a baby girl. Not to mention, my mom keeps bugging me about it. Any time I go somewhere she’s always telling me to bring back a lady. Right before I left for my vacation that’s exactly what she told me.”

“That’s wonderful, always having your mother on your case.”

“Not all of the time, but I think this time she’ll finally be satisfied,” a sly smile peeked out from the corners of his mouth, his aqua eyes glinting in the sunlight.

Upon seeing the gleam in his eyes, Kate edged closer to him, wanting to know what he was thinking. _He’s being very mysterious about something. I wonder what?_ “Why do you say that, Gabriel?”

He turned the diamond ring over and over in his jeans pocket, gathering up to courage to pop the question. After a few more seconds he pulled it out, holding it up for her to see, “Because I finally found a reason to use this.”  
Kate’s mouth dropped open at the sheer beauty of the ring. She couldn’t believe what was happening right in front of her, “Oh, my gosh! It’s beautiful, Gabriel.” the moment he took her hand in his her heart started beating wildly while she gazed into his eyes. _Oh! Is he seriously going to ask the question?_

“Kate, I really don’t know why I’m feeling like this, but right from the first time I looked into your eyes I knew you were the one I wanted to be my wife and the mother of my children. So, I’m asking you now, will you wear this ring as my wife?”

Without saying a word in response, Kate flung herself on top of Gabriel. The impact of her body crashing into his caused both of them to fall to the ground, Kate landing on top of him before she lightly placed her hands on his cheeks and closed her lips over his. For what seemed like an eternity they kissed each other until she pulled back and gazed into his bright blue eyes, seeing the sparkle in them, “Of course I will. I’ve been hoping you’d ask me, Gabriel. I know it’s so soon after meeting, but I love you. I love you so much.”

Gabriel managed to slip the silver ring on her finger between her kisses, “The other half of the wedding ring you’ll get once we get to Jefferson. It’s part of my family’s history and is very special to me. The diamond band goes above it,” After explaining, he pushed himself up so that he was sitting beside Kate with his arm around her waist.

“When will the wedding be?” She tried to hold back her excitement.

“Hopefully as soon as possible, and I don’t want a giant wedding, either. Just say the vows, put the rings on, kiss, and we’re good.”

“So you’re saying you want to get married before you, excuse me, we, go to Jefferson?”

“Yes.”

“Fine by me.”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The old clock on the mantelpiece kept up a steady ticking, the only sound in the otherwise silent room. The two lovers relaxed on the loveseat in front of the fireplace. Kate leaned against Gabriel’s chest, listening to his heartbeat. The sound calmed her and almost made her fall asleep, but she forced herself to stay awake; she didn’t want to miss one moment of being near her new fiancé. _I wonder how Mom and Dad are going to take the news?_

“If I see any sign of your dad freaking out I will be long gone,” Gabriel seemed to be thinking the same thing as Kate.

She raised her head and kissed his cheek, “Don’t worry. Daddy has been waiting for me to get engaged. I’m his favorite, but don’t tell Mom I said that.”  
“What about Twila?”

Kate scoffed at her sister’s name, “He’s not on good terms with her at the moment. He thinks Mom pays more attention to her than me and will get her anything she wants. Daddy actually told her to buy her own car, but he helped me buy my Camaro,” she tried to hide a giggle, “The other day he told her she was a spoiled brat… to her face. Needless to say, she won’t be coming to our wedding. Not if I have anything to do with it.”

“I can see why,” he sighed, pulling her closer. “God, I’m tired. I could just pass out right here.”

“Then go ahead, I’ve got to go feed the dog.”

Around midnight, Kate’s parents arrived home from work to find their daughter snuggled against Gabriel, both of them asleep. At a closer glance, Corey noticed the diamond ring on her finger and a smile came to his face. If Cherrie had noticed, she hadn’t said anything about it, _Good for him. He’s chosen a wonderful woman to be his wife. Not to mention, I really like him and his personality, so I know he’ll treat her well._ So as not to disturb them, he led Cherrie upstairs after turning off the lamp by the couch.

Kate awoke the next morning to find her mother cleaning the house with baby Roxanne lying on her blanket in the middle of the living room floor. Her mother seemed to be in a happy mood about something considering she was humming, and flashed Kate a bright smile.

“Good morning, honey. I hope you slept well.”

Kate yawned and stretched her arm out to the side before getting up from the couch, “Yeah,” looking around, she didn’t see Gabriel at all, “Where’s Gabriel?”

“Ah. Your soon-to-be husband is outside helping your father train Butterfly. From the look of it, the filly’s winning,” Cheer winked at Kate and went back to dusting off the family photo.

Kate didn’t even want to think how her mother had found out about the engagement, and picked Roxanne up before walking out to the training pen in the warm sunshine. She watched the two men lasso the filly and place a saddle blanket on her back. Then, she saw Gabriel lean over and whisper something in the horse's ear, causing her to become still.

“Hey! Why don’t you take a break?” Kate called from the other side of the fence. She held her baby sister on her hip while bouncing her to keep her entertained. 

Gabriel looked up after hearing the familiar voice, excited to see Kate standing nearby, “Well, good morning. I figured you’d still be asleep,” he chuckled warmly and hugged her. “You were snoring pretty well when I got up.”

“I guess I was tired. So, did you sleep well?”

“For once,” Gabriel reached over and tickled Roxanne’s feet, smiling when she giggled. “Your sister’s so adorable. May I hold her?”

“Sure you can!” Corey had overheard their conversation and walked over to join in. He slapped his hand down on Gabriel’s shoulder before continuing. “Besides, it’s great practice for when you have children of your own in the near future.

“Daddy!” Kate hissed.

Gabriel saved some embarrassment by breaking in, “Don’t worry, Kate. He knows about the engagement… and he couldn’t be happier.”

Kate had to see her father’s expression to be sure he was telling the truth. Once she received the nod of approval the only thing left to do was show him the ring, “See? Gabriel really knows how to please a girl, but it could be a rock and baling wire and I’d still love it. He said it’s been in his family for a long time, so that makes it all the more special.”

After inspecting the ring, Corey said, “It’s very beautiful…and congratulations on the engagement. I’m so happy for the both of you,” he reached over the fence and gave his daughter a hug without hurting the baby clinging to her sister’s side. In all reality, he was overjoyed that his precious girl was finally marrying the man she loved even though they had only met just recently. He had always believed in love at first sight, and apparently it was true with Kate and Gabriel.

Kate beamed with joy with Gabriel inching closer, but trying not to make it too obvious; he wanted Corey to know that he intended to marry his daughter, and marry her he would without anyone stopping him, “Corey, Kate and I were hoping you could help us…” He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Kate in order to see her expression, “We would like to get married as soon as possible. Do you think that would be alright?”

The smile her father gave widened, “Of course. How about this weekend, because I’m sure you’d like to get back home to see your parents… and show Kate off.”

“I have a feeling Mom’s going to have fits when she meets her. She’s been waiting a very long time for me to get married since I’m her only son and the only way our last name can be passed on. So, hopefully Kate and I will have a son when we do decide to have children.”

“Makes sense,” Corey sucked in a breath of air before continuing. “Well, I guess we better start shopping for the wedding.”

It was Kate’s turn to speak if she wanted to keep things the way she wanted it, “Now, Daddy. I don’t want a big wedding with the entire family present. What would make me the happiest girl in the world would be finding a place outside or something, and maybe a cheap dress… nothing fancy like Twila’s.”

“God, I still can’t believe your mother insisted on spending that much for her wedding, but I wouldn’t mind doing that for you,”  
“No, Daddy. I just want a simple wedding, and I’m sure Gabriel would agree.”

Her fiancé nodded in agreement, Yes that would be great.”

“Fine. Whatever you wish.”


End file.
